Lack of proxy voting preparation

[Rod Clark]

Sharma wrote:
> For the last election a proxy form was available on the webpages for any
> member to copy, fill out, and either mail or fax in, or give to someone
> else with instructions on how to vote or to carry it to the meeting. A few
> members used it. Notification of the election and of the existence of the
> proxy was sent to every SCNA member in email.

Sharma, 

   There were barriers there, that are worth noting. First, the
form stated that to be valid, the user must write on the form
the user's pass-phrase question from the user's original
registration form. Even though I'd be able to give the answer to
the question if asked, I've forgotten which question I supplied
three years ago. If I'd wanted to send in a proxy, the form made
it clear that my proxy would have been invalid without this.
This is a good example of how to effectively discourage people
from voting.

   Second, the proxy form was distributed online as an
afterthought with almost no lead time before the election. As
far as I know, there was no proxy ballot sent by U.S. Mail to
all SCNA members, stacks of paper copies of the proxy form were
not distributed at committee meetings, and so on. In other
words, this was done in such a way that minimal results could
have been expected by any neutral outside observer.

   Third, there was no attempt made to reach the membership to
educate them beforehand about the proxy election process, for
months beforehand, before the actual candidates were nominated,
top make sure that everyone knew about proxy voting, was
comfortable with exactly how it works, and had all their
questions and doubts fully answered well in advance.

   In other words, proxy voting this year was something that the
average SCNA members, if asked to explain, would likely respond
by scratching his head or shrugging her shoulders and saying
"Well, um, I'm not really sure." For next year, I'd like to
suggest that we address these concerns in a more serious and
well planned process.

Rod Clark

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